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Viet Duc Hospital surgeons successfully perform a dual heart and kidney transplant |
The organ donor is a 29-year-old woman in Hanoi. Her father revealed that her 17-year-old brother suffered from congenital dilated cardiomyopathy and lung failure, so since the age of 14, he has come to Viet Duc Hospital for treatment. According to doctors’ diagnosis, the boy required a simultaneous heart and lung transplantation. The family registered to receive donor organs at Viet Duc Hospital, but the boy couldn't wait for a suitable donor, so he died 2 months ago from pneumonia.
While the bereaved family is still painful about the death of the boy, they were informed about the traffic accident of their daughter on February 9. Doctors diagnosed the girl to have a severe traumatic brain injury, subarachnoid hemorrhage. Knowing that their daughter can’t survive, the parents agreed to donate their daughter's organs to save the lives of other patients who were languishing and anxiously waiting for the source of donor organs.
This simultaneous heart-kidney transplant was performed on February 15 and lasted 10 hours. After the transplant, the functions of the heart and kidneys of the recipient have recovered to almost normal, the patient can sit up, eat, walk and communicate, without the need for special support facilities.
In a few days, the male recipient will be discharged from the hospital to reunite with his family with the heart of a Hanoi girl.
Associate Professor Nguyen Quang Nghia, Director of the Viet Duc Hospital’s Organ Transplant Center expected that more and more people are willing to donate organs if they unfortunately die to help those waiting for an organ transplant have a better chance of living.
